I sang a little while and then flew on.

Good listening, but I don’t think all around top-shelf ‘91. As noted below, Crazy Fingers has weird keys, but it is Bruce who seems lost. He plays ahead of changes and sounds extremely sloppy... to the point that it is actually distracting. He Falls in place better about half way through.
No show is perfect; trust me I have listened to thousands...but this certainly has high notes and x-factor elements.
Worth getting for sound quality and a handful a of songs.
This night is just a snapshot in the journey and no one can hang their hat on any one show. There are elements of every show that manage to etch onto the brain; enjoy and keep on truckin’.

I had finally found that ethereal and simpatico sweet little hippie girl of my youngest and wildest schoolboy dreams who I’d been seeking for a over 2 decades plus and I was unimpeachably convinced she’d would there be there with me feeding peaches to all our children until they all found that empyreal path on their own. We spent everyday outside that fall of 91 Old Boston Garden stand with our homemade cardboard “Need a Miracle” signs from sunup to until the end of intermission with never any luck, and though I knew that my closest oldest fellow traveler of this scene was flying out from the Bay Area with two tickets for the 1991-09-25 show along with several doses of highest quality LSD that I’d ever been privileged to have coalesced with, that had actually been cooked by a mutual old friend of ours who had probably had the most nebulous qualities of the au courant, yet possessed savant like abilities when it came to entheogenic cooking. Though sadly this heroine eventually became a martyr as a ward of the Federal prison system for a decade or two as apparently her savant like abilities were not universally appreciated as they deserved to be, it was with this unparalleled road map to the chimerical that I took my very last chemically enhanced ride on the Jerry Coaster something I had not done since I tried my very first X on New Years Eve Show 1985. Sadly my perfect vision of my of my heart's desire was unable to find a way in to this to show though, and even though two weeks later I’d experience my last acid trip ever with her, by taking all of the rest of Beth’s magic recipe within a sacred extinct caldera of a volcano that had recently become my most hallowed ground, I would later identify this missed show as to where the seeds of discord were planted in this once in a lifetime connection which would eventually lead to a Judas kiss and my spending at least one Christmas in prison for the bad bad chemicals the she’d turn to in order to cope with the fact we were no longer of the same soul.So was this show good? Yes it was the best of shows and it was the worst of shows. I’d see only one more Dead show ever, sober though and also at the Garden in 94 I went with my rebound girlfreind and thogh I insisted on staying sober and she insisted on draging me into the woman’s bathroom to have sex in a futle attempt to make my sadness go away. So were these shows any good? In a most unconvential way yes they were. I d seen maybe 20 - 30 shows of all different stripes of very good rock bands at the Garden over the years and I’m really glad the Dead closed it all out for me as well providing my first and last surprising good sex at both my very last Dead show and very last old Boston Garden Show in general. I’ve alway said there two kinds of classic magic Dead Show the undeniable univesal and personal subjective...

After a 9-day sold out run at MSG (which had the highly-traded 9/10 show) came a 6-day Boston Garden run of which this is the 5th. (A 4-day run at Oakland Coliseum followed which featured the oft-remarked 10/31 show). So what's the deal? Is this as good as those '91 high points? It was released as Dick's Picks #17 chiefly because there was (is) no SB in circ (though by '91 always good AUDs) and because of the first "That Would Be Something" (not that first versions are ever good). The so-called "Clam Jam" is the jam they sponsor before Drums to make up for a weak set so-far. Probably not the best of the Boston run and, though not as bad as DP 13, still a pointless Dick's Pick. There's much better stuff in '91 (e.g. the above-mentioned plus one of the Cal-Expo shows, one of the Vegas shows, Denver, 11/3, 6/14, 6/20, 6/22, a few more).

First Set. The top of the first is the highlight of the show. Though Help on the Way is typical '91, with Slipknot! things tighten. Perfectly played into Franklin's, Hornsby's great, which always fired Phil and Jer. Everybody is playing something good. Musta Been Roses is well above the average '91. Dire Wolf is played tight and with energy. Jer cuts off Vince during a creaky Queen Jane Approximately and the rest is average or less. Music Never Stopped just doesn't work with the Weir carnival-circus beat thing, but when Jer kicks in, well, he's having a hot set - he's not the wink link people online love to claim re: '91 (but, but I read all about some drug called "Persian" and he was the only stoned person in the world!).

Second Set. Rough start. And WTF is Vince doing in Crazy Fingers? Two weeks earlier he was nailing this shit. Halfway through Terrapin the set recovers and the jam out is one of the best of '91. That Would Be Something is the 1st one, then there were 3 in '93; 6 in '94; 7 in '95. I think I only saw one (Feb '95?) but it's not like any were memorable. Here, tugged this way and that (GDtRFB, Peggy-O), clearly they just came across it before Jer concedes for a quick lyric. But it's Vince that adds the highlight riff that cements Macca at the next one (Detroit '93), where it's fleshed-out. By Throwing Stones things are flat and torpid. Hornsby's solo is by far the best part and keeps the rails straight at the wreck site. It's a relief when they bail to Not Fade Away where Hornsby's the best part again. The rest is sloppy at best.

1st Set:  C+
2nd Set: C-
Overall = 2 Stars

Highlights:
Slipknot! - Hornsby inspires
Franklin's Tower - the machine, everybody active
It Must Have Been the Roses - best of tour
Clam Jam out of Terrapin - Fall '91's postcard jam

SOURCES: This is a good sounding AUD and runs at the right speed, unlike the others. SBD is DP 17.

Just my opinion, but.....

This show is ok, definitely worth a listen, but why it's a Dick's Pick is honestly beyond me. It's loaded with slop and outright difficulty onstage. Blown lyrics and so on. There are some good moments but why, why, why?

Perhaps another Cornell 77 or 79-12-01 syndrome - lots of people raving while some are just scratching their heads.

So many better shows, honestly.

IMHO

amazing stuff. dick knows his shows. start to end, best of boston garden 91.

So i was the mere age of seventeen when i first found the dead. I was working as a busboy in a fancy resturant downtown and one of the cooks had just bought this DP. the minute i heard it i was hooked i bought it the next week and moved out of the midwest to colorado and hove listened to this gem hundreds of times. This is the show that sparked a true unbridaled passion for the dead that has only grown bigger with time. look out for a truely intense help>slip>franklin, terripin and a bangin walkin and much more!

Two keyboards delver a truely dark trip.
go buy it cause the dp is worth every penny.

PS watch out for the victim it will suck you in and spit you out if your not careful!

I would buy the dick picker but Im afraid that proceeds would go to support people who support the senseless killing of soy plants for human consumption. killers. plants are people too.

Excellent Terrapin Station (My Favorite) available on Dick's Picks #17 just to make it clear where to find this great show date.

I had the great fortune to have a front row center seat for this show. There were many great moments but the Terrapin will be forever ethched in my memory. There was incense burning behind Jerry and the image of him jamming intensely, head down, while the smoke swirled around his head will be with me forever. The Help Slip Franklin's was also an experience.

GO BUY THIS DICKS PICKS!!

The Help>Slip>Frank smokes. This is one where the music plays the band. It's just amazing how one night could make the difference between a mediocre performance and something that transcends. Mr. Latvala definetley knows a great show when he hears one. IMHO, this is one of the top 5 of 1991. Six songs into the first set Weir has only had one song. Terrapin and ensuing jam, which clock in at about 18 minutes, are awesome. Hearing that crowd go nuts just gives me goosebumps...what I wouldn't pay to go back for one more....First TWBS, which Hornsby makes you think is Prudence for a bar or two!!

basing review on the DP disc. My least favorite of the Garden run and still a beauty. The post space portion of the show is top notch dead.

Good show, this recording is not bad. The DP sounds damn good of course. Worth a listen. It's nice to have the energy of the crowd. Thanks Mark.